Apparatus for cutting sweetmeats



March 15 1927.

` R. HEAD l-:T AL

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING SWEETMEATS Filed Nov. 14 w25V 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lllllulllllIIL ullll W31 AMarch 15,1927. 1,621,012

R. HEAD ET AL l APPARATUS FOR CUTTING SWEETMEATS Filed Nov. 14, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l i "l /7'4- F/. l

` Wanssum. me!!! VFomald Head, l Mmmm Edward Preeco'.

,4 fr0/PNE KW- p Patented Mar. 15, 1927.

` taking place while the slab is stationary and f 'unirseA sraras A f 1,621,012r`vl PATENT ortica.

RONALD HEAD AND WILLIAM EDW'ARD PRESCOTT, LONDON, ENGLAND, A.iSIl'l-N'OIRSv To BAKER PERKINS COMPANY, iNcoEroiiaTEn', or WHITE PLAINS, NEW YoEK, A

j conPoEATioN yor NEW YORK.

APPARATUS Eon cUTTiNG sWEETMEATs.

Application led November 14, 192'5, Serial No orother substantially similar pieces involv-v 5 ing the use of a knife or knives, bent trans' versely after the manner of the teeth of a saw so as to form a zigzag cutting edge, which, at each stroke of said knife, will cut a zigzag line across the material, and the principalobject of the preseiitiiivention `is to so arrangesaid knife or knives that the cutting. edge or edges will lie or act diagonally across the slab of sweetmeat which is fed thereto, so that at eachstroke .the pieces are cut withou'tlaterally shifting either the knife or the slab as was necessary in certain prior apparatus for this purpose. ,y They slab of sweetineat is intermittently fed on a conveyor over or along a table or the like above which the diagonally ydisposed knife is mounted for vertical reciprocation, the cutting movements of the knife the slab being preferably subjected to pressure'means such'as 'a'spring or other loaded roller' while the cutting operation is taking place. Such pressure, rolleryis suitably driven with theiconveyor and' acts 'to hold` the slabfirmly during cutting and feed it forward, forexample, over a shearing plate orequivalent hereinafter referred to. f

After cutting on the table or on the shearing plate the'cut pieces are Yremoved as by aj delivery chuteor conveyor to any required position for packing or to be otherwise dealt with. f

Where the" cutting takes place in conjunci tion with a shearing plate this latter will be of sucien't thickness to properly coactwith the knife to sever the pieces and its edge will be shaped to correspond with the zigzagy edge of the knife, or alternativelyboth the knife and shearing plate may have. their coactin edges divided into two portions substan'tiallyat a right'angle to one another and extended to form two edges each lying diagonally across half 'the width of the slab and meeting vat the centre. f y

A scrap or stripper plate, which may be spring loaded, is suitablyl carried byy the usual cross head which supports the knife, or. the latter may be arranged to operate through a stationary stripping plate.

. campana inereat Britain necemterie, 1924.

l An embodiment of` a machine according to the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a side elevation and Fig. 2 a plan'lview. j Fig. 3 is an end elevation fromtlie left of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a partial end view of the knife, stripper plate and Shearer plate. Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of the knife, sheary ing plate and associated parts; and Fig. 6.a-

plan view of thek shearing plate and cutting" Figs. 4 to 6 are on a larger scale than.y

table. Figs. `1to 3. y

\ The machinev illustrated comprises a suitable frame 1, the upper )surface of which is plane to form a table2 over which passes' a web or conveyor 3which is driven intermit-v tently.. The conveyor is mounted on rollers 3a' and 4, with the latter of which is associated a pawl and ratchet drive gear 5 operated as by means of a slot'tedarm or lever 6 driven by crank disk 7 on a transverse shaft Kaand connecting rod 8. The latter maybe the stroke of the pawl and ratchet gear.

l Above the web Sare twonlaterall guides9 `between which the slab of sweetmeat to be cut is placed and by which it is guided vto a pressure roller 10 above the web. Thisroller is mounted in blocks` 11, one at eachiside, slidably mounted in vertical side frame members 12, the blocks being under.A the action of adjusting screwsl to vary the pressure of the roller on the slab and provide yfor differ.- eiit thicknesses of slabs-. The slab lon the web adjusted inthe crank disk and arm to vary :y:

subjected to the pressure of the roller 10 is fed by the vmovement ofthe web an'd roller to a cutting table 14 shown :more particularly in Figs. 5 and 6 as comprising a plate slotted 24, one at each side, operated by eccentrics- 2501i `the same shaft "r'a as the crank disc 7. kBetween the knife and the Shearer plate is at 1ro-.to haveniounted therein` a shearing i provided a stripping member 26 having -zi'g-k is cut into squares or rectangles by the zigzag edges of the knife co-operating with the similarly shaped edges of the shearing plate 16 and that on upward movement thereof any tendency for the cut portions to adhere to the knife is'prevented by the stripping member 26. In the event of the material of which the slab is composed being of a somewhat soft nature and likely to bend in cutting or there being any tendency for the cut pieces to shift or become misplaced after cutting due possibly to the knife and shearing plate not making a'perfectly clean cut, the plate 18 previously referredy to comes into operation. The shearing plate 16 is undercut or recessed below `as at 16 and the plate 18 which also has zigzag edges is adjustably carried by a frame 28 below `the cutting table, being mounted on screws or the like 29 so that it can be raised close up to the shearing plate or positioned slightly away from same according to the nature and thickness of the slab `being cut. The zigzag edges of 'said plate form continuations of the zigzag teeth of the shearing plate and tend to prevent any distortion or displacement of the cut pieces under the conditions above stated.

The cut pieces fall down through the cutting table onto an inclined delivery plate 30 or may be otherwise disposed of according to will.

Any Vconvenient mechanism may be used for' driving the moving parts. ln the embodiment shown power is transmitted by a pulley 31 on a main drive sha-ft 32 provided with a" clutch 33 operated by hand rod 34 and shift lever 35.

From said shaft 32 movement is conveyed through gears 36, 36a to the aforesaid shaft "1'a for operating they cutting head and web as previously explained. On the web roller 4 is a gear 37 which drives a train of gearing 38, 39, 40 the latter of which is mounted on the shaft of pressure roller 10 so that the latter is rotated in 'direction of feed of the slab over the table. The adjustability of connection of the rod 8 may be effected by slotting the crank disc 7 as at 7b and providing a screw adjustment 6a in the arm 6.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is l. A knife for candy-cutting apparatus,

vbent transversely to form, in horizontal section, a Azigzag line and embodyingtwo coordinate portions which are disposed substantially at right angles to each other.

2. In apparatus for cutting a forwardlymoving slab of candy, a knife bent transversely to form, in horizontal section, a zigzag line and embodying two coordinate portions which are disposed substantially at right angles to each other `and which extend diagonally across the path of movement of the candy to meet at the center of such path; and a shearing plate for cooperation with said knife having a zigzag cutting edge disposed in a similar manner to that of the knife. l

3. In apparatus for cutting a forwardlymoving slab of candy, a V-shaped knife bent transversely to form, in horizontal section, a zigzag line, said knife having its apex directed toward the line of movement of the candy; means for reciprocating said knife vertically; a cutting table below the knife; a shearing plate mounted in said table for cooperation with said knife and having a V-shaped, zigzag cutting edge disposed in a similar manner to'that of the` knife; and a stripping member between the knife and the shearing plate and having a ll-shaped, zigzag line of apertures through which the knife passes during its vertical movements. a 4. 1n apparatus for cutting a forwardlymoving slab of candy, a V-shaped knife bent transversely to form, in horizontal section, a zigzag line, said knife having its apex directed toward the line of movement of thev candy; means for reciprocating said knife vertically; a cutting table below the knife; a shearing plate mounted in said table for cooperation with said knife and having a V- shaped, zigzagcutting edge disposed in a similar manner to that ofthe knife; and a separate plate mounted in said table below the shearingl plate and similar in shape thereto, said separate plate beingy adjustable vertically to-ward and from the shearing plate. .i 5. In apparatus for cutting a forwardlymoving slab of candy, a AVashaped knife bentk transversely to form, in horizontal section, a zigzag line, said knife having its apex directed toward the line of movement of the candy; means for reciprocating said knife c vertically; a cutting table below the knife;

a shearing plate mounted in said tableV for cooperation with said knife land having a v zag line and embodying tWo `coordinate portions which are disposed substantially at right angles to each other and which extend diagonally across the path of movement of` the candy to meet at the center of such path;`

' table; a presser roller to hold the candy against movement during the .cutting operation; a drive shaft; a secondary shaft connected to be driven thereby; means actuated by the secondary shaftfor opera-tingv said knife; a device actuated by said secondary specification.

shaftfor intermittently moving the conveyor; and means operated by said conveyor during its feed movements to rotate vthe presser roller.`

8. In apparatus for cutting candy and the like, acuttingk table; a e vertically-reciproeating knife disposed thereover; a conveyor for `feeding` 'the lcandy to and acrossthe table; a presser roller to' hold the candy against movement during the cutting operation; means for operatingv said knife;

means for intermittently moving the con-v veyor; and means operated by said conveyor during its feed movementsl to rotate the presser roller. l p l n' y ,v

In Witness whereof We lhave signed vthis RONALD HEAD. A WILLIAMv EDWARD rREsoomf 

